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Weekend HoursPosted 4/12/1999By Jeri Simons
With consumerism on the rise, businesses began extending their hours to accommodate the busy masses. Retail shops, grocery stores, banks and other businesses have realized the value of being available to their customers more hours of the day and more days of the week. So where does the automotive service industry stand on this issue? The results are mixed. According to Bernie Blickenstaff of Collision Repair Services, Baltimore, Md., most of the independent shops he has worked with are not open on the weekends. "But that is changing," says Blickenstaff. Weekend hours is also the subject of a current survey on the ASA Web site (Members Only Area). So far, two-thirds of the respondents have said that they are not open on the weekends. However, many dealerships and franchise and chain shops do offer extended hours and weekend service. In today's fast-paced society where people are often willing to pay more for convenience, what does that mean for the independent shops? For independents, weekend hours is a multi-sided issue. Often the smaller shops have limited staffing, and working six or seven days a week can be too taxing to be worth the extra profits. However, others feel that it is crucial to be open on weekends to stay competitive with dealerships and chain operations. Jack Murphy of Murphy Automotive, Peoria, Ill. is one shop owner who feels that it is necessary for a shop's survival to be open on the weekends. "Customers expect it," says Murphy. "If I'm not going to be open when my customer needs me, then what's the point?" James Dilgard agrees. Dilgard is the owner of Eagle Automotive in Clarkston, Wash., and he also feels that today's consumer demands more from service-oriented businesses. "People live, work and play 24 hours a day, seven days a week these days. It's not like when I was young and everyone was home by seven o'clock." He says his customers appreciate the weekend hours and take advantage of them, making Saturday service very profitable. However, some shops have not had such success from weekend business. Nancy Witmer of Witmer Automotive Service, Manheim, Pa., said their shop was open Saturdays for a while, but it did not prove to be profitable. She said they do offer 24-hour towing service, which is still a convenience for their customers, but is also profitable for the shop. Deb and Gary Starkey of Gary's Quality Auto, Inc. in Grand Island, Neb., also felt that having weekend hours was not beneficial for the shop. "We found that we got the type of customers (on Saturdays) that were not loyal, were simply looking for a fix-it-cheap-and-quick repair shop," says Deb. "We are doing great without the Saturday and Sunday business." Although many shops feel the same way, that they are doing fine without additional Saturday business, Blickenstaff says that many of the shops he works with seem to have more trouble getting the cars out than getting them in. As a result, some even talk about wanting to open another location, an expensive solution, before considering extending their hours. Blickenstaff advises shop owners to use the capital investment made in a business to its fullest potential. "Your fixed costs remain the same if you are open 40 hours a week or 60," he says. Of course there are many issues that come into play when deciding a shop's hours. The demand from customers is an obvious starting point. The size of the shop and number and availability of technicians is another factor to consider. Additionally, the size and dynamics of the market plays a part. If there are many competing shops in a given area, the need to offer more convenient hours may be inevitable. Employees Andy Holve of TLC Automotive in Kirkland, Wash., kept his shop open on Saturdays for a while, but eventually went back to a Monday through Friday schedule because "we were just plain worn out working six days a week." Adds Holve, "I had one tech who flat-out refused to work on Saturdays, but the rest of the techs did whatever they could to help out." Gary Starkey agrees that the long hours take their toll on employees. He found that weekends off were necessary to help his techs rest and get ready for the upcoming week. "Giving the employees the whole weekend off is more beneficial to us than staying open. When they come in on Monday morning, attitudes are better and performance is better." There are ways to schedule employees so that your shop is making the most of its hours without completely wearing them down, says Blickenstaff. He offers some suggestions for scheduling, such as using teams for projects instead of just individual technicians, and staggering the shifts of the employees. He also suggests having shifts of techs working 12-hour days, three days a week. Each individual tech would only be working a 36-hour week, but the owner is getting 72 hours out of the shop rather than 40. Some technicians may even prefer the less-traditional schedules. Murphy says he pays his techs time and a half on Saturdays, and uses a rotating schedule so each tech won't work every Saturday. Dilgard also uses a rotating schedule for his three techs. If they work Saturday, then they will have Monday off, so they will still have a two-day weekend. Even with all the technician scheduling, there is also the question of the owner and his or her own need for free time. Says Holve, "We lost a little bit of business when we closed on Saturdays, but the price was too high, concerning the wear and tear on our bodies and no chance for a life outside of work." Starkey echoes this sentiment, "Dollars are important, but not that important." Holve adds, "I think most shops have tried to do whatever they can to be open as much as they can, but they realize that it is too difficult to maintain the hours. They get worn down." Competition Blickenstaff feels that competition will become an increasingly important issue for the industry. "Ultimately, to remain competitive, shops will have to start offering more hours," he says. Shop owner Murphy agrees. He says it is necessary, as the industry moves into the 21st century, to offer the hours that customers need and expect. "Oil change places have lines on Saturdays. Every time you give your customer the opportunity to go somewhere else, you give that place the opportunity to sell them on their services and take away your customer," says Murphy. In his smaller community in Washington, James Dilgard says not many of the other shops in the area are open on Saturdays besides his shop. As a result, his business has been good and some local dealerships were forced to change their hours to compete with him. However, gaining new business is not the primary concern for some shops, especially smaller ones. Nancy Witmer says, "We are a small shop, and getting Saturday business is not a concern for us because we have as much business as we can handle." Adds Witmer, "Our loyal customers keep coming back." Starkey also believes that the customers will come back to a shop for the quality of the repair, not just convenient hours. He said a chain store recently opened near his shop and he was concerned about losing customers. He has found, however, that instead of losing customers to the larger chain, his business has actually grown. To what does he attribute the growth? "Quality technicians," Starkey says.
The question of weekend hours is one that will have different answers for different shops. The most important thing that shops can do is be aware of the changes in the consumer and the industry. Watching the competition and listening to the customer can often be the best tools in making shop hour decisions.
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Copyright (c) 1996-2008. Automotive Service Association. All rights reserved.
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"And on the seventh day God rested ..." If God can do it, then why shouldn't we? Having a relaxing, work-free, two-day weekend sounds ideal. However, millions of Americans are now working on the weekends, and those that aren't are hardly resting.
